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Charges filed against a Suspected Member of the “Free Palestine Movement” Militia on Counts of War Crimes
Year of issue 2022
Date 14.04.2022
Charges filed against a Suspected Member of the “Free Palestine Movement” Militia on Counts of War Crimes
On 5 April 2022, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against
the stateless Moafak D.
before the State Security Chamber of the Berlin Higher Regional Court (Kammergericht).
The accused is strongly suspected of war crimes (section 11 (1) sentence 1, (2) sentence 2 of the German Code of Crimes against International Law [VStGB]) In this context, he is also accused of seven counts of murder (section 211 (1) (2), section 212 (1) of the German Criminal Code [StGB]), three counts of attempted murder, and three counts of grievous bodily harm (sections 223 (1), 224 (1) nos. 2 and 5 StGB).
In essence, the indictment sets out the following facts:
On 23 March 2014, Moafak D. launched a grenade from an anti-tank weapon (possibly a bazooka or RPG) into a crowd of people at Rejeh Square in Damascus, Syria. The people in the crowd were civilians residing in the Al Yarmouk District and waiting for the distribution of food by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). At least seven persons died in the attack and no fewer than three persons, among them a six-year-old child, were in part seriously injured.
At the time, the accused was a member of the “Free Palestine Movement” (FPM). Previously, he had been a member of the “Popular Movement for the Liberation of Palestine General Command” (PFLP-GC). Al Yarmouk initially was a Palestinian refugee camp. During the Syrian civil war, it was controlled by said armed militias on behest of the Syrian Regime. Between July 2013 and April 2015, the Syrian Regime cordoned off the entire district. This led to a shortage of food, water, and medical supplies among the inhabitants of Al Yarmouk. Intense fighting in the area continued until 2018.
On 4 August 2021, the accused was taken into custody and has been in pre-trial detention ever since (see Press Releases Nos. 37 and 38 of 4 and 5 August 2021).